Timing belt tensioner question

[Outrider]

Due to a mistake I made, I had to remove my timing belt and replace a seal. I removed the tensioner, and am trying to compress it again and put the pin back in it, but it won't compress.

I put it in a vise and cranked the handle with a good bit of force, but the shaft won't compress back into the tensioner at all so that I can re-insert the pin. If I crank the vise handle any harder, it seems like I will bend the tensioner shaft.

Anyone familiar with this issue? Is there a trick to doing this, or can a tensioner not be re-compressed, once the pin is pulled and the shaft extends? I fear that I screwed up and will have to replace this brand new tensioner.

If it's any help to reference, it is the tensioner from this kit:

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=7212808&cc=1357455

 

[Outrider]

I think I found the trick, after doing some research. It seems like I have to compress it really slowly. I am trying that now, and it seems to be working. This is because it isn't just a spring inside. It's a hydraulic mechanism.

 

[Novashards]

I reused my tensioner. I used a large C-clamp and with a bit of elbow grease got it reset and held with a spare (very small) cotter pin until reinstalled.

 

[LittleCaesar]

Slowly here wins the race.....

 

[Outrider]

Good thing I saved my "grenade pin". Maybe, in the back of my mind, I knew I would need it again.

 

[phattyduck]

It seems like I have to compress it really slowly.

Very much this. Most of the instructions I've seen say it you *must* take at least 1/2 hour to compress it, or something like that. Too much force will damage the tensioner. Make sure the pin holes are lined up before starting the compression, otherwise you won't be able to get the grenade pin back in place.

Oh, and you often have to do the compression in a certain orientation (pin up, etc.).

-Charlie

 

[Outrider]

Very much this. Most of the instructions I've seen say it you *must* take at least 1/2 hour to compress it, or something like that. Too much force will damage the tensioner. Make sure the pin holes are lined up before starting the compression, otherwise you won't be able to get the grenade pin back in place.

Oh, and you often have to do the compression in a certain orientation (pin up, etc.).

-Charlie

That's what I am afraid of. I'm sure I'm doing it in the wrong orientation. The tensioner mounting bolt holes aren't symmetric, so I have a 50% chance of getting it right. Time to study things and see if I can determine which is the correct orientation.

edited to add: I can see on the picture on he product listing which way the rubber boot and pin go. Woohoo!

 

[phattyduck]

That's what I am afraid of. I'm sure I'm doing it in the wrong orientation. The tensioner mounting bolt holes aren't symmetric, so I have a 50% chance of getting it right. Time to study things and see if I can determine which is the correct orientation.

The safest way is doing it in the same orientation it is in the truck, unless you mean which side the pin goes in... in which case, you can always pull it back off the truck and re-insert the pin.

-Charlie

 

[Outrider]

This is another case of me "screwing up and doing it right". I got lucky, and had it in the correct orientation, according to the picture in the ad.

Tricky rigging this up, though. It wants to spin in the c-clamp, which also tends to rotate the shaft. And kick the bottom out. It seems to be holding steady as I crank the c-clamp handle every few minutes.

 

[Outrider]

The pin. Is in.

Ok - nobody say, "That's what she said".

 

[19963.4lsr5]

Yep slow and steady till you get the pin in. You actually can use a prybar to compress it still on the vehicle as long as the belt isn't stretched too far.


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[Outrider]

Yep slow and steady till you get the pin in. You actually can use a prybar to compress it still on the vehicle as long as the belt isn't stretched too far.


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I actually tried to do that before I removed it, but I had forgotten exactly what it all looked like down there, and I wasn't sure which part I could safely pry, so I took the long and difficult route.

I sure have learned a lot during this timing belt change. Of the 12 or so I have done on different vehicles, this was the most involved and most difficult. Some of that was due to my mistakes, some due to "chit happens", and some because it's just plain a whole lot of work on this particular vehicle, obviously designed by Jap engineers with tiny hands. I doubt I will keep this vehicle for another 90k miles, when it is 30 years old by then, so this is likely (hopefully) the last timing belt job I ever do.

 

[19963.4lsr5]

It took all weekend to do the timing belt o the 96 and one trip to the junkyard because I broke a bolt that holds the AC compressor to the bracket and basically nothing wanted to come apart. It sucked.


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[LittleCaesar]

I actually tried to do that before I removed it, but I had forgotten exactly what it all looked like down there, and I wasn't sure which part I could safely pry, so I took the long and difficult route.

I sure have learned a lot during this timing belt change. Of the 12 or so I have done on different vehicles, this was the most involved and most difficult. Some of that was due to my mistakes, some due to "chit happens", and some because it's just plain a whole lot of work on this particular vehicle, obviously designed by Jap engineers with tiny hands. I doubt I will keep this vehicle for another 90k miles, when it is 30 years old by then, so this is likely (hopefully) the last timing belt job I ever do.

This is one of the reasons it is handy to have an 8” vice on the tool bench.

For $33 I would have just replaced the tensioner with new Toyo one.

Glad it is all together for you. Look at it as lessons learned.

If you think a TB/H2O pump is difficult on the 5vz, stay far, far away from that Pilot. :yo:

 

[Outrider]

My fastest and easiest was 4 hours on a '97 Miata. 2nd longest was 20 hours on a '99 Camry. My longest was and still is (still putting it back together now) well over 70 hours on this T4R. It would have been about 20 hours, had I not run into all of these problems. Especially if I had noticed one of the camshaft seals, which got rolled during installation. My only excuse (lame one) is that it was on the bottom of the shaft, and I didn't see it. Then the mysterious major oil leak appeared, and it took me a very long time to narrow down the source, but I had a lot of help on here with that.

I am officially burned out on timing belts, and doubt I will ever do another one again.

 

[Outrider]

This is one of the reasons it is handy to have an 8” vice on the tool bench.

For $33 I would have just replaced the tensioner with new Toyo one.

Glad it is all together for you. Look at it as lessons learned.

If you think a TB/H2O pump is difficult on the 5vz, stay far, far away from that Pilot. :yo:

My vise opened about 1/4" less than I needed to compress the tensioner. Grrrrrrr

It ain't back together yet, but I am working on it. Slow, steady and meticulously. I am NOT tearing this thing apart again. My new cam seal is on, and I checked it very, very carefully to make sure it wasn't rolled.

As they say, "I never fail. I either succeed...or I learn". Lesson learned big time on this one.

Yep - I already rejected the Pilot job. And I told my daughter that when she replaces her car, to let me make sure the new one has a timing chain. I replaced her Protege5 timing belt a couple of months ago, and that was a nightmare job. Mainly because the crank pulley did not want to stay on it. But I fixed that, thankfully before it went flying off while she was driving.

 

[19963.4lsr5]

I was glad my little Saturn has a chain instead of a belt.


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[phattyduck]

The timing chain on my wife's old Mini had to be replaced around the same interval as the 4Runner timing belt due to broken parts. Timing chains aren't all they are cracked up to be... Chains, guides and tensioners wear too - and they are more expensive to repair because they are 'lifetime' parts.

I had my old Camry 4-cylinder (stock motor) back up and running in about 3 hours when its belt broke. The Toyota twin cam designs are very easy to work on, relatively.

-Charlie

 

[curryT4R]

The timing chain on my wife's old Mini had to be replaced around the same interval as the 4Runner timing belt due to broken parts. Timing chains aren't all they are cracked up to be... Chains, guides and tensioners wear too - and they are more expensive to repair because they are 'lifetime' parts.
-Charlie

The timing chain is supposed to be lifetime, so if it needs to be replaced it's because the manufacturer used shitty parts or bad design.

 

[nevada]

The timing chain is supposed to be lifetime, so if it needs to be replaced it's because the manufacturer used shitty parts or bad design.

not so. lifetime does NOT mean literally as long as the vehicle survives. each manufacturer has a different meaning for "lifetime".

also, EVERYTHING will wear out. chains are a bit more durable, but they will end up needing replaced due to wear eventually...